Trap for animals and fowls



p 2L 393, Q WAGNER TRAP FOR ANIMALS AND FowLs Filed Sept. 7, 1934,

Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES'.

PATE-NT OFFICE TRAP FOR; ANIMALS AND FOWLS Charles Wagner, Loretto,Minn.

Application September 7, 1934, SerialNo. 743,102

6 Claims.

Thisinvention relates to traps for animals andy fowls.

It is the general object of the invention toprovide a novel and improvedtrap of cheap. and simple construction which can be, eiectively used forcatching. animals. and fowls alive without injuring. the same.. 'Ilo'.this end, generally stated, the inventionconsistsin the novel partsandnovel combinations. of partsy hereinafter defined. in. the claims. anddescribed,- inthe following specification made. in, connection. with.the. accompanying drawing. wherein like, reference characters refer tothe; same or similar parts throughout. the various views, andin. which-Eig.. l isa view in. side. elevation, illustrating a trap. embodying theinventionin. set position the Side door of the. trap. being raised andthe right hand. door being shown in dash lines as it will appear. afterthetrap.. has beensprung.

Fig.l Zisa vertical section taken on the line,2.-2 of,Fig.1as,indicatedby thearrows Fig. 3 i's a view in enlarged scaleof one. of thlatch,bars.and.

` Fig..4is a. horizontal section. takenV on the line 4,-4. of. Fig. 2.as indicated by the arrows.`

Y In accordance with the invention there is. providedatunnel-lke housing5 of rectangular shape in, vertical cross section and having both endsopen. The. tw-o. ends, of the. housing 5 slope. diagonally upwardly andinwardly from the bottom ofthehousing to the top. thereof as-shownf.Connectedby hinges. 6. to the ends. of the top of the housing. 5 areswinging doors 1 which can be raisedupwardly to the position. shown inFig. 1 andwhich. are. under the influence of gravity to swing downwardlyto close the ends of thehousing. Latch 8 are pvotally connectedv attheir outer ends. to the doors 'I and these links Work through. U-shapedkeepers 9 attached to one sideA of the housing 5. The links 8 areprovided witha plurality of. teeth 8171.` which are adapted to engagewith the keepers 9 after the-doors 'I. swing closed-to. prevent. thedoors from being swung open by animals or fowls.y caught within the trapunless. the. inner ends of the links 8 shouldV be raised to disengagethe teeth 8ahv from the keepers 9... A plurality of. teeth 8a.` areprovided so. that in case the. tail or some. other porti-on ofthe.animal caughtwithinI the trap` should prevent the. doors from.completely closing the latch links 8 will still beelectivef forpreventing the trapped animal or fowl. from opening the particular doorin which a portion, of its body is caught. It will be understood.thatthe keepers 9 are diagonally set as shown. and arev quite wide.sofas. to permit freedom for raising and lowering movement of.` theinner ends of the links 8', the links being freely pivoted to the doors'I so that their inner ends; will drop by gravity to cause engagementbetween', the teeth 8a and the keepers 9. 5,

Connected to the doors 'I at the inner sides thereof are hooks. Ill. Apair of latch bars II is provided and each of these latch barsV has anopening IIa at each endv for the reception ofy a. hook IU and each.latch bar also has a. notch II'lr 10 cutin its under edge adjacent eachend and. preferably the two notches of. each latch bar are. of differentdepths. One of the hooks IIJ is preferably disposed closer to one sideof the housing than the other hook I so as tor prevent interfer l5 encebetween the two latch bars I'I.. The latch bars. are connected adjacenttheir outer ends, to the hooks I.0 by engaging the hooks through theouter openings Ila of the latch. bars and each latch bar projectsinwardly within the casingl 2O below the top thereof to a point somewhatbeyond the center of the housing. The inner portions of the latch barsare received within staple-like keepers I2 and the lower portions ofthese keepers when the trap is set are received within the inner notchesI Ibi of the latch bars.

Tread plates I3, to the under sides of which eyes I4 are secured, aredisposed'within the housing 5 and theeyes I4 form fulcrums resting uponthe bottom of the housing about which the tread plates I3 may tilt.Preferably the portions of the tread plates I3 outwardly from thefulcrums I4 are of greater length than the portions of the tread platesinwardly therefrom and the tread plates may be wedge shaped, as shown,having their butt ends inwardly disposed. These. tread plates may beconveniently made from ordinary wood shingles if desired.

A trigger I5. has a large loop at its lower en-d which normally restsupon the two inner end's, of 40 the tread plates I3 to overbalance theportions of the tread plates outwardly from the fulcrums If4 and raisethese outer portions somewhat above the level of the bottom of thehousing. The trigger I5 may consist of merely a rod mounted 45 forvertical sliding movement within guide staples I6 xed to one side of thehousing and this trigger is provided with a shoulder I5a which underliesthe inner portions of the two latch bars II. From the shoulder I5a thetrigger runs up.- 50 wardly through an opening 5m in the top of thehousing and the trigger is thus prevented from swinging movement.Attached to the central part of the floor of the housing 5 is a. pin I1to separate the inner ends of the tread plates. This pin preferablyprojects upwardly through the loop of the trigger I5 between the innerends of the two tread plates I3.

To permit removal of a trapped animal or fowl from the trap as well asto permit access to the central part of the trap there is provided anopening in one side of the housing 5 normally closed by a door I8secured by a hinge I9 to one edge of the top of the housing. This doorI8 carries near its normally lower edge a latch 20 which can be engagedwith a keeper 2| attached to one edge of the bottom of the housing. Toprevent animals caught within the trap from gnawing their way outbetween the door I8 and the adjacent portions of the sides of thehousing 5 within which the door is normally received, strips of metal 22are attached to this side of the housing to overlie portions of the sideedges of the door I8 when the door is closed.

To set the trap it is merely necessary to release the teeth 8a of thelinks 3 from the keepers 9 by raising the inner ends of the links 8 andto thereupon raise the doors 'I so as to cause the inner notches IIb ofthe latch bars II to have engagement with the keepers I2. Bait willpreferably be sprinkled on the tread plates over the fulcrums I4thereof, or if desired, bait may be hung from the central part of thetop of housing 5. Of course, the door I8 will be closed and latched. Asboth doors I will be open when the trap is set, an animal or fowl cansee clear through the housing 5 and will feel secure in entering thehousing 5. To gain access to the bait, the animal or fowl must step onthe outer portion of one of the tread plates I3 and the weight of theanimal will be sufficient to overbalance the weight of the inner portionof the tread plate and the trigger I5 resting thereon and as a resultthe trigger I5 will be raised causing the shoulder I5a to kick up theinner portions of the two latch bars I i to disengage the keepers I2from the inner notches lib. The two doors 'I will then be free to swingdownwardly to closed position and this they will rapidly do to close theopen ends of the housing 5. As the two doors 1 swing downwardly bygravity, one tooth 8a of each of the latch links 8 will engage with thekeeper 9 for that particular link so as to prevent the door 'I frombeing opened by the animal or fowl. The animal or fowl will then besecurely trapped without being injured in any respect. To release theanimal from the trap it is merely necessary to unlatch the latch 28 andraise the door I8 whereupon access may be had to the animal.

Each latch bar II is provided with two hook openings IIa and two notchesIIb of different depths so as to permit the ends of the latch bars to bereversed to cause either the deep notch IIb or the shallow notch IIb ofthat bar to be engaged with its keeper I2. The sensitivity of the trapmay accordingly be adjusted. By varying the positions of the fulorums I4longitudinally of the tread plates I3 the sensitivity of the trap mayalso be adjusted. In other words, when the trap is to be used forcatching light weight animals or fowls, it is desirable to cause thetrap to be sprung easier than in the case of when the trap is to be usedfor heavier animals or fowls. By moving the fulcrums IG toward the inneror butt ends of the tread plat-es i3 the sensitivity of the trap may beincreased, inasmuch as the portions of the tread plates outwardly of thefulcrums will more nearly counterbalance the weight of the innerportions of the tread plates plus the weight of the trigger I5.Conversely, by moving the fulcrums I5 outwardly toward the outer ends ofthe tread plates the sensitivity of the trap may be decreased.

It will be seen that an extremely simple and eicient trap has beenprovided. In actual usage the trap has been found effective for catchingmany different kinds of small animals and fowls.

Preferably, a handle 23 is attached to the top of the housing 5 topermit the trap to be readily Carried.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various partswithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

If desired, peek openings 24 may be provided in the doors 1 throughwhich a trapped animal or fowl may be observed. Also when it is desiredto remove a trapped animal or fowl from one end of the housing 5 byopening one of the doors l, a rod may be pushed through the opening 24in the other door 'I to force the animal or fowl out of the trap.

What is claimed isz- 1. A trap for animals and fowls comprising ahousing having an open end, a door hinged t0 said open end and swingabledownwardly by gravity from an open position to close said end, afulcrumed tread plate within said housing, a shouldered trigger normallyresting at one end against one end of said tread plate to hold the otherend of the tread plate raised, a keeper mounted within the upper part ofsaid housing and a bar pivotally connected at its outer end to said doorand having adjacent its inner end a notched portion at its under edgeengageable with said keeper, the shoulder of said trigger underlying theinner portion of said bar whereby when said door is opened said trap maybe set and upon an animal or fowl stepping on said tread plate the trapwill be sprung.

2. A trap for animals and fowls comprising a. housing having an openend, a door hinged to said open end and swingable downwardly by gravityfrom an open position to close said end, a tread plate within saidhousing fulcrumed for swinging movement, a shouldered trigger normallyresting at one end against the inner end of said tread plate to hold theouter end of the tread plate raised, a keeper within the upper part ofsaid housing, a hook connected to said door and a latch bar pivotallyconnected at its outer end to said hook and having its inner end workingthrough said keeper above the shoulder of said trigger, said latch barhaving a notch adjacent its inner end within which a portion of saidkeeper is normally received whereby when the trap is set an animal orfowl stepping upon the outer end of said tread plate will lift saidtrigger to raise the inner portion of said latch bar and release saiddoor.

3. A trap for animals and fowls comprising a housing having oppositelyopposed open ends, doors hinged respectively to said open ends andswingable downwardly by gravity from an opened position to close saidends, a pair of tread plates fulcrumed within said housing, a shoulderedtrigger guided for upward and downward movement and normally resting atits lower end against the inner ends of said tread plates to hold theother ends of said tread plates raised, keepers mounted within the upperpart of said housing at the central portion thereof and latch barspivotally connected at their outer ends to said doors and runninginwardly through said keepers to points above the shoulder of saidtrigger, said latch bars having notches at their under surfaces adjacenttheir inner ends within which the respective keepers are engaged wherebywhen said. doors are open the trap may be set and upon an animal or fowlstepping on either tread plate the trap will be sprung.

4. 'Ihe structure defined in claim 3, the lower end of said triggerresting on said tread plates being a loop and a member attached to thebottom of said housing and projecting upwardly through said loop toassist in spacing the inner ends of said tread plates.

5. A trap for animals and fowls comprising a housing having an open end,a door mounted at said open end for movement under the action of gravitydownwardly from an open position to a closed position to close said end,a tread plate within said housing and having a portion normally bearingagainst said housing and another portion normally raised from the bottomof the housing when the trap is set, a shouldered trigger normallyengaged with the raised portion of said tread plate to maintain the sameraised, a keeper mounted within the upper part of said housing, and abar pivotally connected at its outer end to said door and havingadjacent its inner end a notched portion at its under edge engageablewith said keeper, the shoulder of said trigger underlying the innerportion of said bar whereby when said door is opened said trap may beset and upon an animal or fowl stepping on said tread plate the trapwill be sprung.

6. A trap for animals and fowls comprising a housing having an open end,a door mounted at said open end for movement under the action of gravitydownwardly from an open position to a closed position to close said end,a fulcrumed tread plate within said housing, a shouldered triggernormally resting at one end against one end of said tread plate to holdthe other end of the tread plate raised, a keeper mounted within theupper part of said housing, and a bar pivotally connected at its outerend to said door and having adjacent its inner end a notched portion atits under edge engageable with said keeper, the shoulder of said triggerunderlying the inner portion of said bar whereby when said door isopened said trap may be set and upon an animal or fowl stepping on saidtread plate the trap will be sprung.

CHARLES WAGNER.

